To Trap A Temptress (Southern Sanctuary - Book 2) (9 page)

“Well
since we both know you’re not the sweet obliging goody two shoes everyone seems
to think you are and I’m… well me… yeah I pretty much guarantee it.”

“Well.” 
She got to her feet, stretching for a moment.  “It’s late, time for
bed.”  She walked around the coffee table to stand over him.  “Are
you going to be okay?”

“Peachy.” 

She
laughed.  “Legs still not working?”  She offered him a helping
hand.  “It takes some subjects longer than others to get the feeling back
in...”  She swallowed the rest of her words as Drum flowed like liquid to
his feet, all too close now and towering over her.

“My
recovery times are generally pretty good.”  He intimated with a dark
promising smile.  “You’re trembling…” He noted, missing nothing as he
observed her.  “But you’re not afraid?”

“No.”
She forced out the truth despite the embarrassment it caused her.

“My…
size doesn’t scare you?”

“You
have an annoying tendency to loom over me… but scared?”  Her breath
hitched in her throat as a butterfly waltz began in her lower stomach. 
“Of course not.”

“Because
you’re the big bad Doctor who can protect herself or because you know I would
never hurt you?”

“Both.”

“Even
if I.”  Leaning down Drum wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her
up, bringing her up to rest against his chest, her feet dangling free.  “Do
this?”

Awkwardly
Nell bought her hands up to rest on his large shoulders, fighting the urge to
wrap her legs around his waist and snuggle in closer.  “You... I...
We...”  She swallowed hard.

“I
like where this conversation is going… you… me… we… and?”

“We….” 
She determinedly met his black gaze, she was a grown woman, she could do
this.  “Could take this upstairs… to the bedroom.”

“Even
though I acted like such an ass all evening?”

Nell
huffed out an indignant sigh.  “Why would you bring that up right now?”

“Because
I don’t think you’ve completely forgiven me yet Doc.”

“I
don’t have to forgive you… to…”  Hot colour swamped her cheeks.

“Fuck
me..?”  He enquired, raising a dark eyebrow in query.

“I
was going to say sleep with you.”  Honestly, couldn’t the behemoth just
stop talking and sweep her upstairs for a night of wild passion?  Instead
he appeared intent upon raking up the coals of her earlier anger.  “Would
you put me down please?” 

“Not
until we get a few things cleared away.  I appreciate the invitation
upstairs possibly more than my simple He-man nature will let me articulate
right at this minute.”

Nell
huffed out another breath.  “There’s no reason to make fun of me.”

“Oh
Doc, do you see me laughing here?  Does it feel like I’m joking?” 

He
lowered her ever so excruciatingly slowly down the length of his body until her
soft thighs were pressed up tight against his unmistakeably rigid cock. 

The
hot colour in Nell’s cheeks now spreading throughout her entire body. 
“Then I don’t understand…”  The rest of her words were lost as Drum bent
slightly and captured her soft warm lips with his. 

The
butterflies in her stomach dive bombed to set up a loud techno party between
her legs, the throbbing beat pulsing out an ache that demanded to be a
quenched.  His onslaught was relentless as his tongue slipped into her
mouth, darting, teasing, taunting her.  Goddess she wanted this man, right
here, right now.  One of her hands slipped around the back of his neck,
her fingers disappearing into his thick luxurious pelt of short hair. A growl
of pleasure rumbled in the back of his throat as she dragged the nails of her
other hand down over the material of the t-shirt covering his
chest.   Goddess she wanted to climb this man.  Climb?  Why
would she need to… hey, why was he putting her down? 

Nell
murmured several unintelligible dazed words as her feet touched the ground and
Drum broke the kiss.  Both of them breathing hard as he moved a few feet
away, slipping all too easily into the dark shadows of the room for a man who
embodied the light. 

Goddess
how she missed the feel of his arms wrapped around her, it bordered on almost
physical pain.  How was that possible?  How had her body come to
crave his touch so dramatically in such a short time?

It
took all her years of hard won focus and surgical reserve for her to utter the
next words in a cool collected manner.  “Now I really don’t understand.”

“You
had a big scare today Doc.  I don’t think you should be making any life
changing decisions.”

“Excuse
me?  You think I’m suffering post-traumatic stress and would just be using
you as some sort of distraction?”

“Actually
I read a book once and they referred to it as the white knight syndrome.”

“You
read a book… once.” 

“Hey
no need to get snarky, I read.  I’m just saying I don’t think we should do
anything here that you might regret in the morning.”

“Uuuurgh.” 
Nell threw up her hands in frustration.  “Drum honestly, why do I need to
remind you every five minutes that I am quite capable of looking after
myself?  If I want to have a one night stand and be swamped with regret
the next morning like any other normal woman then that’s my Goddess given
right.”

“Doc
you’ve witnessed how possessive I am already when it comes to you.  Now
ramp that up by a factor of a thousand if we were to sleep together.  If
we take that step I won’t be letting you go.  So you can’t just be caught
up in the moment here, you’d need to be really sure.”

Nell
wrapped her arms defensively across her body.  “These warrior instincts of
yours must make it very hard for you to have a normal life if you feel
compelled to become the over protective shadow of every woman you hook up
with.”

“Now
you’re just being obtuse Nell.  Why do you insist upon clinging to the
idea that what’s between you and I could only be a casual thing?”

“Don’t
be… we couldn’t possibly be long-term.” 

“Why? 
Because I’m a warrior and you’re a healer?”

Nell
bit into her bottom lip hard.  “Not just that.  We live on opposite
sides of the world.”

Drum’s
eyes narrowed. “Throw magic into the equation and it seems to me only a closet
door separates us.”

Nell
huffed a sigh, was he really going to make her say it out loud?  “Look
isn’t it obvious, your well… you.”  She waved a hand in his general
direction.  “Battling bad guys, excitement, adventure, men cowering in
their boots before you, women melting at your feet overcome by your He-man
magnificence.  And I’m just… well me.  Small town country doctor,
average in practically every way.  There is nothing remotely special about
me, except perhaps for my shoe collection.  You’d be bored within a month…
no, a week.”

Drum’s
bark of laughter echoed around the room.  “Nothing special about
you?  Seriously how can someone so smart be so dumb?”

“Me? 
Dumb?  You’re the idiot. What about what Maat said?
 
Your own Goddess thinks you and I would be a
disaster together.”

Drum
loomed out of the shadows suddenly to stand before her, his granite jaw working
hard as he glared down at her.  “I respect Maat and she has a right to express
her beliefs.  She might have made me but she doesn’t own me.  All I’m
hearing from you is a bunch of excuses.  When are you going to stop hiding
behind that nice girl camouflage of yours and claim what you want with both
hands and damn the gossip and the consequences?”

Nell
practically vibrated with anger, mindless she pulled back her arm and thumped
him hard in the solar plexus with her fist.  Jumping back waving her numb
hand as he just stood there rock steady and unaffected staring at her. 
“Ow… damn it!  From the moment I met you I’ve been trying to do exactly
that.  The only thing stopping me has been you!  First at the meld
party and now here tonight!  I keep throwing myself at you and you keep
putting up road blocks.  Just what is it you want from me Drum?”  His
name came out in a husky gasp as he suddenly gripped her firmly by the upper
arms, leaning over to put his face directly in front of hers. 

“I
want you to want me… all of me.  Not because I’m the big bad or a
convenient warm body.”  Abruptly he let her go, took two steps back,
turned and headed for the patio doors dragging off his dark blue t-shirt as he
went.  “I’m going for a swim.  Don’t wait up for me.”
 
He moved like a jungle cat disappearing abruptly in
to the foliage beyond the private pool headed for the beach. 

Still
slightly dazed Nell watched Drum leave, absently rubbing her bruised
knuckles.  “Stupid idiotic man… I don’t have post-traumatic stress and you
are about the most inconvenient warm body available.” 

Had
she yet again managed to hurt his feelings?  Did he really expect her to
‘claim’ him?  And what did that mean exactly? Claim him for a night, a
week, a lifetime?  And why should she be the one doing all the
claiming?  She’d yet to hear anything out of his mouth that sounded
remotely like a declaration of his feelings.  Huffing out another sigh she
headed upstairs, stomping all the way, uttering curses under her breath. 
Heading straight for the shower she found the cold knob and twisted it
hard.  Praying to the Goddess above the icy water would wash away the
memory of Drum’s hard body plastered against her own.  Otherwise she was
in for yet another long restless frustrating night.

Chapter
Nine

Nell
was kicking herself the next morning for not remembering to close the bedroom
curtains.  Squinting as the morning sunlight blazed throughout the
room.  Urggh, she pulled a pillow across her face to block out the light
but then she couldn’t breathe.  And darn it now she was officially awake,
she squinted at the clock on the bedside table.  Goddess it was just
barely 5.30am. 

Throwing
back the pillow she glared at the picture perfect blue sky day outside. 
Stupid paradise.  Suppressing a yawn she sent up a prayer of thanks to the
Goddess for the four hours of sleep she’d managed to grab.  Especially
considering the fact she hadn’t been able to fall asleep until she known that
Drum had returned safely to the cottage from his night swim.  Not that the
big lug had made a sound.  Just somehow she’d known when he was back, some
internal instinct when it came to him.  Which in the light of day kind of
freaked her out. 

It
was a hard truth to face that she’d been attuned to him from their first
meeting.  She hadn’t just chosen him at the meld party because he was the
tallest, the broadest, the meanest looking and the most ludicrously
inappropriate man there.  She’d chosen him because once her eyes had
locked on him she hadn’t been able to look anywhere else. 

And
the more time she spent with him the more things she came to like about him;
his barely there quirky smile, his dry sense of humour, the way he looked at
her with banked heat in those black depths. And for a man who looked like he
was carved out of granite he was surprisingly volatile. 

He
might give the world a blank assessing thousand yard stare but not her, he let
her in, admitted to weakness, to fear… to not being in control all the
time.  And for a man like Drum, a warrior, an elite, surely that wasn’t easy. 
She couldn’t imagine him giving leverage like that to anyone unless he… unless
he really cared about them… about her.  Goddess she’d missed all the signs
hadn’t she.  He-man had been declaring his feelings for her all
along. 

That
only left one question, how did she really feel about him?  Heading for
the shower she stripped off her nightie and plunged her head under the
water.  She could do a pros and cons list she supposed.  But one,
that sounded kind of clinical, even to her.  And two, at the top of the
cons column would be listed the fact that the Goddess Maat disapproved of the
idea of them together.  Could she even let Drum defy his Goddess like
that?  Just for her?  Where would that leave Drum?  She supposed
he could come live with her at the Sanctuary; the community could always use
another family enforcer.  Whoa, how had she jumped from contemplating a
relationship with He-man to inviting him to live with her?  It seemed kind
of… right… fast… it seemed kind of fast didn’t it?  Turning off the taps
she stepped out of the shower.  How in the space of three days had her
life become so very complicated?  

Thankfully
she had the perfect day planned to help sort out her head; a nature walk to the
highest peak on the island.  Pulling her damp hair back into a pony tail
she headed for the closet to find her hiking boots and a suitable outfit. 
Vowing that by the end of the day she would have her thoughts in order and be
ready to sit down on Drum… with Drum… she’d sit down with Drum and discuss their
situation like two sensible adults.  They’d reach a mutual understanding
of where they both stood and devise a practical approach of what was going to
happen next between them.  There she had it all planned.  What could
possibly go wrong?

She
was by no means quiet as she descended the stairs but it seems her entrance
alone wasn’t enough to stir Drum from his deep sleep.  Even though the two
sofas Drum had pushed together were on the large side they still weren’t enough
to contain all of him she noted, standing beside his sleeping form amused to
see his feet dangling over the edge, the tangled sheet barely managing to cover
his lower half.  She gave a small prayer of thanks to the Goddess above
that he’d chosen to sleep on his stomach.  His head face down in the
pillow.  How he managed to keep breathing she had no idea.  For just
a few seconds she allowed her eyes to drink in the sight of all that dark
golden muscular exposed flesh. 

“Drum.” 
Her intended stern Doctor voice came out barely a husky whisper.  Clearing
her throat she tried again. “Drum.”  The only response came from the snake
tattoo that slithered around his throat to peer up at her.  “I don’t
suppose you could wake him up?”   Nell shook her head in
bemusement.  “And now I’m talking to a tattoo…”  As she spoke the
snake writhed across Drum’s back like a dog begging to have its tummy
rubbed.  “Fine.”  She knelt on the side of the sofa, reaching over to
run her fingers lightly up and down the cool reptile expanse of its upper
body.  “I’m thinking I’m going to have a come up with a name for
you.”  The tattoo seemed to like that idea as its body curled and
undulated under her touch. 

“Maat.” 
Drum’s voice sounded muffled and gravelly. “What are you doing?”

“What?…
Sorry.”  She snatched back her hand, freezing in place.

Drum
angled his head slightly to the right so he was no longer inhaling
pillow.  “I asked what the hell you thought you were doing up at the butt
crack of dawn Doc?”

“I
accidently left my curtains open.”  She explained cheerfully.

“Well
close them and go back to bed…”

“Not
going to happen I’m afraid, once I’m awake that’s it for me.  A holdover
from my intern days.”

“Ugh…” 
Drum let out a disgusted sigh.  “I get that you’re awake but do you have
to be so...”

“Don’t
say perky.  I hate the word perky.”

“I
was going to say upbeat.”  Drum managed to roll over on to his side,
rubbing his face roughly with one hand to get the blood flowing.

“I
take it you’re not a morning person?”  Nell did her best to keep her gaze
fixed firmly on his face.  You’ve seen one gorgeous set of abs and smooth
muscular chest up close and within touching distance you’d seen them all…
right?

Drum
reached out and captured one of her hands, rubbing his thumb over the back of
her hand in a slow hypnotic fashion.  “Oh I could definitely be a morning
person… with the right incentive.”

“I
could bring you coffee.”  She offered, still refusing to lower her gaze
from his face.

“Not
exactly what I had in mind.”

“Well…” 
Nell practically jumped out of her skin, grabbing her hand back from Drum’s
hold.  “Did… did your snake tattoo just lick my hand?”  She rubbed
her palm.

Drum’s
eyes flicked down to the tattoo which was now wrapped around his arm, its head
resting against the skin on the back of his hand that had just seconds previously
been holding Nell’s hand.  “What can I say… it really… really likes you.”

“Is
it always so active?”

“Hardly
moved an inch for over a hundred years… you come along and it’s like it can’t
sit still.”

“I
wonder why it’s reacting to me?”  The scientist in her couldn’t help but
be intrigued.

Drum
huffed an amused sigh.  “I could hazard a guess.”   He raised a
suggestive eyebrow, that sensuous mouth of his twisting up in one corner in his
version of a smile.  “So you were up early and instead of sneaking down in
your lacy barely there baby-doll nightie to wake me up the old fashioned and
infinitely preferable way you decided to change into shorts, t-shirt and hiking
boots to try and tempt me to do what exactly?”

Nell
rolled her eyes.  “I do not wear a lacy baby-doll nightie.”

Drum
sent her a reproving look.  “Don’t kill the dream Doc … never kill the
dream.”

“Men.” 
Nell laughed.  “You don’t want me going off anywhere alone and rather than
put up with your sulking I decided to let you know where I was headed.”

“I’ll
have you know that men don’t sulk, we brood.  So just where is it you
think you’re off to Doc?”

“Breakfast
and then I put my name down for the nature walk up to the highest peak on the
island.
 
The view from up there is
supposed to be gorgeous.”

“Okay.” 
Drum sat up abruptly, reaching for the sheet tangled around his lower body.

“Hold
on.”  Nell put up her hand to stop him, yes she was a Doctor, yes she’d
seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of naked men before.  But she hadn’t seen
Drum naked and she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea she start right now when
she was feeling so vulnerable and had yet to sort out what her feelings were
for the behemoth and what their next step should be.

Drum
for his part ignored her, tossing the sheet aside one handed as he scooted down
off the make shift bed with speedy grace, flowing to his feet he turned to look
at her.  “What?”

“Oh.” 
Okay she should try and sound more surprised than disappointed.  “Oh…
you’re wearing your bathers, weren’t they kind of damp after your swim last
night?”

Drum
ran fingers through his hair and then along his jawline noting the rough
stubble.  “I wasn’t wearing them when I went swimming and I figured I’d
better wear something to bed in case we had any night time intruders. 
Hard to run in the buff you know… not ideal but better to be avoided where
possible.  I need a shower and a shave, can you hang on for ten minutes?”

Yeah
wouldn’t that just be great for her equilibrium, sitting around picturing him
all naked and wet in the next room.  “Why don’t I head over and get
started on breakfast, you can join me when you’re ready?” 

Drum
hesitated and Nell shook her head. 

“Come
on, I’ll stick to the path and head straight to the pool area.  I’ll be
fine.”

“Okay
but you zap anyone who comes at you with your ninja doc powers first and ask
questions later.”

“Promise…
see you in a bit.” 

She
wasn’t running out the cottage she assured herself as she strode hastily for
the door, she was just hungry… yeah that was it, eager to start the day with a
hearty breakfast. Just what any good Doctor would recommend.